Choreographing Histories: Critical Perspectives on Dance Histories in Nordic Dance Practices and Scholarship

• Published in: Nordic Journal of Dance Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 31 - 47
• Main Authors: Järvinen, Hanna, Hammergren, Lena, Svarstad, Elizabeth, Hoppu, Petri, Rosen, Astrid von
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 01.06.2023
• Subjects: teatervetenskap; Theatre Studies
• ISSN: 2703-6901; 1891-6708; 2703-6901
• DOI: 10.2478/njd-2023-0004

This text is based on a roundtable organised bythe five authors at the 2022 NOFOD conference inCopenhagen. As scholars and practitioners investedin the research and teaching of dance history bothinside and outside academia, we wanted to addressthe pressing issue of how ‘history’ is defined andpositioned within Nordic dance scholarship andpractices today. Dance, as we think of it and practiseit in our everyday lives, is far more diverse than theso-called ‘contemporary dance’ that the white authorslisted as scholars and practitioners in the conferencecall indicate.1 For this roundtable, we wanted to showthat dance theory and practice-led work in dance gofar beyond the Eurocentric idea of contemporarydance present in the conference call, and to advocatefor a more inclusive understanding of the practices ofmaking or researching dance in the future.